Grammar term · The verb · Tense
La of prohibition
la al-nahiya
لَا النَّاهِيَة
The verbTensecore term
Also written: Nafy · Laysa · La of negation · Not in Arabic
In one line
The لا of prohibition — “do not!”: it clips the present verb like a command in reverse.
Classical definition
لَا النَّاهِيَةُ حَرْفٌ يَجْزِمُ الفِعْلَ المُضَارِعَ وَيُفِيدُ طَلَبَ الكَفِّ عَنِ الفِعْلِ.
“The la of prohibition is a particle that puts the present verb into jazm and conveys a demand to refrain from the action.”
Key words in the Arabic
طَلَب الْكَفِّdemanding refraining
يَجْزِمُputs into jazm
Understand it
Three different لاs share one letter-shape, and the grammar tells them apart: prohibiting لا clips the verb (لَا تَقْرَبُوا — nun gone), negating لا leaves it whole (لَا يَعْلَمُونَ), and category-لا governs a noun (لَا إِلَٰهَ). Read the ending of what follows and the لا identifies itself.
How to spot it
Recognition test
لا + clipped mudari' addressed at someone = a prohibition.
In the Qur'an
وَلَا تَقْرَبُوا۟ ٱلزِّنَىٰٓ ۖ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ فَٰحِشَةً وَسَآءَ سَبِيلًا
Al-Isra 17:32 — “Nor come nigh to adultery: for it is a shameful (deed) and an evil, opening the road (to other evils).”
لَا clips تَقْرَبُوا۟ — the dropped nun is the jazm of prohibition.
Common questions
How is this different from the la that simply negates?
By what it does to the verb. The prohibiting one clips the present verb into jazm — it is a command in reverse. The plain negating one leaves the ending untouched and only reports that something is not happening.
Next in the guideلَام الْأَمْرLam of command →Updated